The Griffon News

BOG discusses several issues in first session

At the January Board of Governor’s meeting, Western’s first master’s degree program, Western’s increase in state funding and the minimum wage increase for Missouri were topics of discussion.

Jeanne Daffron, who is currently assistant vice president for academic and student affairs, has been named interim dean of the new graduate school.

Provost Joseph Bragin said that the master’s program will kick of in the fall ’07 semester.

Bragin estimated that 25 students would enroll. Having this first master’s program has been in the works since 2005. Bragin said that steps are now being taken to get a master’s degree in applied arts.

Having a graduate program at Western would promote external partnerships with businesses in St. Joseph, Bragin said. This relationship would result in higher salaries for students and keep more students in the St. Joseph area. The Board also wants to produce students that can immediately be valuable when they enter a career.

In addition to talks about the master’s degree program, the Board also discussed the state increasing Western’s funding.

Although Western did not receive the desired 17 percent increase that the Coordinating Board of Higher Education proposed to Governor Blunt.

President James Scanlon said that the smaller percent in increase is a good start. He is still adamant that Western is an excellent school despite any financial issues.

“With modest state support, modest tuition, we are able to achieve extraordinary things,” Scanlon said.

Also, the Board discussed how the school is reacting to the increase in minimum wage. This has been a worry across the board as to how Western will finance this increase, which was not factored into the year’s budget.

Ron Olinger, vice president for financial planning and administration, stated that Western was looking at an unbudgeted $120,000 increase from enlarged student employment wages.

In the budget plan for next year, the Board is looking to reallocate number of hours for departments.

There was also a suggestion that student jobs could be cut if Western couldn’t support the minimum wage increase.

Another item of discussion was the increased support that Western has received from its alumni. It was reported that alumni events have been well attended and that the alumni from Missouri Western are doing well in their careers. Scanlon reported that the alumni were interested in working with current students at Western and helping them obtain internships and jobs with their companies.